NotBusiness7.qxd

This report examines the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the capacity and effectiveness of public sector institutions in Southern Africa, specifically focusing on three case studies including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water (MoAFS) in Lesotho and the Ministry of Public Service (MPS). It finds that AIDS-related attrition, combined with pre-existing organizational weaknesses, is undermining service delivery and institutional memory.

• The HIV/AIDS epidemic is reducing government effectiveness in Southern Africa by increasing staff turnover, raising costs, and causing a loss of institutional memory, which exacerbates existing capacity constraints such as low productivity and skills shortages.
• Public sector institutions are particularly vulnerable due to a reliance on highly skilled professional and technical staff who are difficult to recruit and retain; even low levels of attrition in these roles can undermine service delivery.
• The epidemic has shifted service demands; for example, in Lesotho's MoAFS, there is an increased demand for food aid and nutritional support, while demand for farming-related services has decreased, hindering efforts to diversify the rural economy.
• Most studied institutions lack a comprehensive, holistic response to HIV/AIDS, often focusing only on prevention while neglecting care, support, and institutional impact mitigation.
• There is a critical lack of threat analysis and monitoring; institutions generally do not know how HIV/AIDS is impacting their staff or service delivery, and available human resource data remains unutilised.
• Institutional responses are often fragmented and lack formalisation. Only the MPS has a formal policy, but it is limited by a lack of implementation guidelines and contradictory statements.
• HIV/AIDS is predominantly viewed as an individual or community issue rather than an organisational one, leading to a failure to address the internal impact on institutional capacity.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). NotBusiness7.qxd. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NOTBUSINESSCHAP7.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. NotBusiness7.qxd. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NOTBUSINESSCHAP7.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=NotBusiness7.qxd |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NOTBUSINESSCHAP7.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndnotbusiness7qxd, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{NotBusiness7.qxd}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/NOTBUSINESSCHAP7.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }